DORCHESTER Town first-team coach Jody Rivers admitted the Magpies’ 2-2 draw with 10-man Walton Casuals “doesn’t feel like a point”.

Rivers watched on as Dorchester surrendered a 1-0 lead, earned through Klaidi Lolos’ strike, after Casuals’ goalkeeper Alex Tokarczyk was sent off for raising his fist to the back of Callum Rose’s head.

James Ewington and Manolis Gogonas then helped Walton into a 2-1 lead before a severely-deflected strike from Neil Martin handed Dorchester a point in the 95th minute.

The result worsened Dorchester’s league record to one win in 10 games, keeping the Magpies in 21st of 22 teams – although Callum Brooks’ side gained on Hendon, 2-0 losers at Swindon Supermarine.

Speaking post-match, Rivers said: “From the position we were in we’re disappointed to only get a point at home, considering the fact that we were up against 10 men.

“We felt we did a lot of good things in the first half, particularly on the ball. We were hoping to go into the second half and for that to continue.

“We’ve had a little bit of a reflection in the changing room and unfortunately the point doesn’t feel like a point at the moment.”

Asked if the draw felt more like a defeat, Rivers said: “It certainly feels like that. We’ve put a lot of hard work in, especially the last couple of weeks where we didn’t have a game last Saturday.

“We’ve put a lot of detail into players, talked about fitness levels and worked on them. We felt we were in a really strong position to go forward.”

Commenting on Walton, Rivers felt Tokarczyk’s red card had galvanised the Surrey outfit.

He said: “I know it’s a bit of a cliché but sometimes they say that when the opposition go down to 10 men, the other team get a lift because it galvanises them.

“Anyone that watched the game could see that when they went down to 10 we weren’t good enough on the ball.

“We’ve conceded a sloppy free-kick in the wrong area which gave them an opportunity to put the ball into their box, and we’ve not defended it properly.

“There’s no excuses for that, we’ve worked on it in training. Then when it’s one-all a little bit of panic set in.

“We were trying, from the sideline, to keep them calm and we had a good chance from Devon Arnold and if that goes in maybe we’re talking (about) a different story.

“But it didn’t, and they’ve hit us with a second one as we were looking to try and win the game.

“Before the game, there was no talk of a point – we wanted all three.”

Rivers believes some Dorchester players must reflect inwardly following the game.

“Some of the players need to look at themselves,” he suggested. “I don’t want to pass the buck, because we’re all in it together.

“There’s certain things I’ve looked at where tactically, we could’ve done better but you can’t legislate when people run by you to get to your box. You’ve got to go with your runners.

“From my perspective it’s a case of digging deep. I’m not going to do any soul searching because I’ve given everything I can to this football club.”